Sole Physical Custody
by DreamsInBlackAndWhite
Summary: Oh, Wolf. You never thought you'd get saddled with a five year old, did you? Well, I'm sure it will all work out. Somehow. Maybe.
1. This Isn't What I Wished For

**_New Year, new story. This particular 'fic was the product of one extremely strange conversation with a friend. I mentioned that I love giving AR characters children to look after and she suggested Wolf. It kind of germinated from there._**

**_Please, do read. Oh, and if you're reading any of my other stories, long overdue updates are on the way! I'm so very sorry about the delay._**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Alex Rider series. Chapter title comes from 'Let the Reigns Loose- Get Up Kids'**

* * *

There are very few moments in life that you can pinpoint and examine and know, deep down, that they have just changed your life. Usually, it's foggy, clouded in a haze and you can't quite tell the exact hour, never mind moment, that the world shifted and you just... knew.

Lieutenant Lucas 'Wolf' Santos was, as per usual, the exception to this rarity. For him, it was crystal clear. With his usual blunt, tactless, graceless lack of charm he could unerringly pick out the precise second his entire world on pivoted on its axis and reversed its gravitational pull. To him, it was feasible, tangible even, that the entire cosmos was just sharing another joke at his expense. And this one was so deliciously hilarious, so marvellously droll that he was almost tempted to laugh.

Well... tempted to chuckle manically.

And of course, in Lucas' mind, it wasn't his fault in the slightest. To a certain extent. He knew, obviously, that it wasn't entirely Mel's fault that she'd fallen pregnant. After all, it did take two to horizontally tango. But still. He'd sent her two hundred pounds to 'take care' of it after she'd phoned him.

Apparently, they'd had different definitions of the term. Apparently, abortion money was a phrase Mel was unfamiliar with. Apparently, to her, it had meant 'Go right ahead, I might change my mind later. I didn't really mean it when I said I had absolutely no intention of ever seeing you again.'

Go through with it she had.

Sleeping with Mel multiple times hadn't been Wolf's only poor decision over the years. In fact, it probably wouldn't have even been an issue if Mel hadn't spontaneously decided to get caught in the middle of a ten car pile up on the motorway five years later.

So, in all honesty, it was actually Mel's decision to drive without a seat belt that had landed Wolf in his current predicament.

His current predicament?

Being 'instructed' by some snotty social services woman to care for his five year old biological son whom he'd never met before. Apparently, almost getting his head blown off in Iraq didn't mean that the government was willing to pull strings for him. Legally, he was obliged to shoulder the burden that had been dumped on social services' doorstep. Even if he'd never been aware of the boy's existence. That ignorance had been bliss.

That bliss was far from our hero's mind as he pushed the speed limit, one hand on the steering wheel, one hand frantically trying to mute the radio with his mobile phone clenched between his shoulder and ear, neck craned precariously to sustain this feat of gravity defying science.

'Yes, I understand the severity of the situation. For Christ's sake, I'm driving to some bloody boghole council estate on the other side of the stupid island on my weekend off, aren't I!' He growled.

The car was on loan from Wolf's collegue and friend, Mark 'Snake' Ward and appeared to have a mind of its own when it came to small, insignificant things like windshield wipers and gear shifting. It's owner winced from the passenger seat as Wolf ground his way into fifth, more than a little concerned for his Volkswagen 1986 Rabbit. Mark was there partly for moral support but mostly because his car was his baby and Wolf was neither a slow or forgiving driver. In fact, Mark had only given him the keys because Wolf's own vehicle was a shitheap piece of muck maintained merely for sentimental value.

'Here Mark!' Lucas glowered, thrusting the phone at his friend. 'I can't talk to her, she's making me want to strangle myself.'

Snake took the phone with quiet confidence, nearly positive he could sort the whole thing out with a few words. Eleven, actually.

'I'm sorry, my friend is a moron. We'll be there soon,' he said, hanging up. Frankly, Snake-or Mark, was a little worried. Wolf wasn't exactly behaving normally. Normally he was surly and curt. Normally he scowled a lot but drew the line at outward tantrums. Normally, he wouldn't accept help from his own mother. It made Snake nervous, the lack of character distinction.

The car was silent as Wolf drove on, occasionally spewing short streams of profanity at what he was driving. Snake resolved to broach the topic of Wolf's newly discovered parenthood delicately.

'So. Do you... want to talk about how this happened?' He asked, tentatively probing.

'The usual bloody way, I presume. If I'd known I was going to wind up stuck with some kid I'd have knocked a bit more fun out of it, suffice it to say,' Wolf barked through clenched teeth. The wipers gave a feeble sweep across the windscreen, accompanied by a sporadic blast of the radio.

'Right. But seriously mate, how could you not have known? I mean-'

'Stupid _thud _piece _thud _of _thud _German _thud _crap!' Wolf bashed the radio, which had taken to autologizing obnoxious techno music at leisure, with unnecessary force.

'Lucas?' Snake pushed gently.

'Christ almighty! I don't know. She rang me, told me she was knocked up. I told her I wasn't going to get back with her and she said that she'd 'take care of it.' I sent her two hundred quid to pay for it and that was that,' Wolf replied, scowling out the windscreen.

'Was Mel the one who looked like Angelina Jolie's twin?' Snake enquired thoughtfully.

'No, that was Megan. Mel was the one who did Politics in Cambridge,' Wolf answered, impatient, as he merged lanes without signalling. The radio died abruptly which was a real relief.

'Ah! The one who though feudalism was an STD?' Snake queried.

'No, that was Michelle. She was on Mel's course. Mel was the one with black hair. Nice tan. Pretty. Was actually a lot smarter than most of my... lady friends. Had that tattoo on her-'

'The one who binned all your porn?' Snake raised an eyebrow.

'No! Jesus. She was the one who I nabbed off Eagle. Remember? Told her he had crabs the size of lobsters so she'd get shot of him,' Wolf divulged guiltily.

'Right. I remember her now. So who got in touch to let you know?'

'Social services spent months trying to contact me while we were touring in Iraq. They got me last week. Apparently, I was named on his birth certificate as the father,' Wolf said distractedly, rolling his window down a crack to let some fresh air in.

'What about Mel's parents? Didn't she move to be closer to them?' Snake asked, rummaging in the glove compartment for a car magazine he thumbed through.

'Yeah. Her mum was in the car with her and the dad's been dead a few years,' Wolf eyebrows knotted.

'So where had the kid been living these past few months? Five years old is a little young to be in a residential home with other kids. Surely. Was he staying with an aunt or uncle or something?' Snake asked, genuinely concerned. Wolf glanced over at him as he moved to overtake the slowest Volvo in the history of the world.

'He spent a month in some childrens' home and two more in a temporary foster placement. For God's sake, Mark, people see me trying to overtake in this piece of crap car and they're actually insulted! You need a new car. Badly,' Wolf grumbled as the Volvo accelerated away from his reach easily. Stupid Volvo.

'This was my first car, Lucas. Show some respect. We have a lot of memories. My first girlfriend. My first date. My first... you know,' Snake replied, grinning a little sheepishly.

'Jesus. I'm never driving this thing again. Mark, what am I going to do? What the hell am I going to do? He's just a kid. He needs a parent. Instead, he's got me. I'm going to be a crap dad,' Wolf lamented, glancing across at his friend pleadingly.

'Well,' Snake inhaled, switching into lecture mode, 'Y'kno, my dad and I used to cook together, just as something for us to do. I was never happier than when we were in that tiny kitchen together, making fairy cakes.'

'Really?' Wolf said incredulously, foregoing the obvious insults.

'No. My dad used to knock seven shades out of me if a teacher wrote home. Not because he cared, but to act like he did. And I was happy the first time I dropped him; delighted. It's just about finding some balance between drop kicking him when he does something wrong and being a total bender dad who talks about feelings. You'll be fine,' Snake insisted dryly.

'Very funny. You're a real comedian. Shit,' Wolf swerved wildly across the road to the soundtrack of some well deserved horns of complaint but he made it back into his lane which was all that really mattered to him right then.

'I do try. C'mon Luke, this is going to be fun, raising your own little mini-Wolf,' Snake taunted smugly, determined to be as irritating as he could to make up for Eagle's absence. Both Fox and Eagle had wanted to come but Wolf hadn't been too gone on the idea. He'd only managed to shake them off with the assertions that there were only five seats and he didn't want to overwhelm the kid straight off the bat.

'Oh fuck off, will you! I only agreed to let you come as moral fucking support because I didn't want to be alone with the damn kid,' Wolf glared, partly pissed at Snake, partly pissed at the traffic and partly pissed about the fact that he didn't have a clue about how things were going to play out.

'Sorry. I'm not exactly being supportive. I'm just happy for you,' Mark replied, apparently remorseful.

'Happy for me?' Wolf queried, staring across at Mark as if he had three heads.

'Yes, happy. For you. I mean, it may have slipped your notice, Lucas, but you're a tad irresponsible. At times. I think this kid might be good for you,' Mark elaborated.

'Good? this kid is a lot of things for me, Snake. And good isn't one of them. I mean, I was just getting ahead at work, just starting to tread water financially. I was doing okay again for the first time since university. And now, with this kid cropping up. It's just... Shit, I don't even know anymore. I mean, he needs someone to look after him. And I can barely look after myself,' Wolf responded despondently.

'It'll be fine. It's all instinctual anyway, isn't it?' Snake soothed.

'Is it?'

'It is.'

There were a few moments of silence before strange muffled hiccups started being emitted at random intervals from Snake's seat.

Wolf glanced over, worried a little. Snake's face was contorted. Then, his face relaxed and he exploded into loud, hysterical laughter. He didn't stop. Wolf was mentally going through the steps of first aid for choking, wondering if would work. Snake started to turn purple.

'What's so goddamn funny?' He inquired impatiently.

Strange strangled noises started coming from deep in Snake's throat and Wolf strained to interpret them. It sounded like... 'S jus dya thin no howt grol ye?

Wolf translated in his brain. _It's just, d'you think he knows how to growl yet?_

'Oh just fuck off,' Wolf steamed brusquely.

'D'you reckon... he can... pull of the... glare?' Snake seemed to be recovering.

'When we drive to highlands to pick up your love child, I'll remember this, you haggis eating bastard,' Wolf threatened.

Snake collapsed once again.

* * *

Two fast food stops, six coffee runs and three filling station trips later, they'd arrived at the address.

The house looked sad.

It was grey pebble dash, grim, with a flaking yellow front door. It looked like a thousand other council homes, dilapidated and cramped, its derelict appearance only added to with cheap net curtains and ancient rotting wooden window frames. The neighbourhood was full of rusting cars and scowling teenagers and pitbulls. Oh, and horses. Everywhere.

'Are you sure this is it?' Wolf asked sceptically, raising his eyebrows. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. A group of ten or eleven teenagers were perched on the wall opposite, staring stubbornly at him, daring him to even so much as look at them the wrong way. If it had been adults, Wolf might have said something. But kids? Even Lucas 'Wolf' Santos drew the line at threatening children.

'Number eleven, Watery Lane. I'm sure. This is definitely it,' Snake answered calmly, settling back into his seat, as if he was about to take an impromptu snooze.

'I'd better knock,' Wolf said hesitantly.

'Right,' Snake nodded.

'Right? That's it? Aren't you going to wish me luck?' Wolf glowered.

'Don't fuck up.'

With that reassuring sentiment ringing in his ears, Wolf shrugged his way out of the car and into the front garden of the house. It wasn't so much a garden as it was a patch of overgrown grass split in two by a cracked concrete path that was covered in weeds.

He got to the door much too soon. His palms were sweaty, his throat bone dry as he gripped the cold brass knocker and banged it twice. It actually sounded like he had much more resolve than he did.

He had time for one uncertain glance back at Snake, who offered a hasty thumbs up, before the door swung open to reveal a rake thin woman with wispy ginger hair. She wore a nightdress with a worn, filthy bathrobe on top and eyed Wolf suspiciously, puffing smoke in his face. Good god, he was too nervous to glare.

'You a pig?' She demanded.

'What? No. I'm Lucas Santos. Ì'm-'

'You for pick up or visiting? I don't have time to listen to your whole life story,' she asked, her face caught in a stupid, blank expression.

'Pick up.' Wolf answered tentatively, swallowing.

The woman reached into her bra and pulled out a grubby paper, one corner wet. Wolf watched, transfixed with horror. It was like a magic trick.

'You say your name was Smith?' She asked, scrutinizing the paper.

'Santos,' Wolf corrected, disgusted, as she delved back into her cleavage. She rummaged around for a minute or two, her face still stupidly blank. He shifted awkwardly outside, resisting the urge to recoil in disgust as she withdrew a brown envelope triumphantly. He was starting to feel nauseated.

'Oh yeah. Social called. Jake's dad?' She inquired smugly, like it was a big achievement for her to remember. Wolf racked his brain. Was the kid called Jake? It was definitely a 'J' name. Hmmm. John? James? Jacob? Joseph? No. Shit. It was... Jack. Jack. He was almost certain of it.

'Jack. I'm here for Jack.'

'Right, right. Jack. That's what I said. Jack! Jack! You dad's here! C'mon, I gotta get that bed ready for another one!' She yelled up through the house before turning to Wolf conspiratorally. 'I've another one coming this afternoon. I'm only licensed for six at a time. It's a pain in my arse.'

Wolf nodded mutely, like he understood. All he could think of was how he was going to introduce himself to his son.

'Yeah. You look just like him,' she mumbled, moving to one side. A tiny little human, barely taller than Wolf's waist peered curiously from halfway down the hall.

Wolf stared and stared. He was a little taken aback by the size. The boy was tiny. Were five year olds meant to be that small? Wolf pushed that aside though because for one second he was completely vulnerable. His kid was the spitting image of him.

Well, of him when he'd been four or five. The kid had dark brown curly hair, the same kind Wolf's mother had said looked like an angel's. Or a girl's. But of course, the kid's doting mother had probably refused to have it cut. He even had the same numerous cow licks that made the curls stand up in a regimented way. That was why Wolf had been keeping his hair short and tidy since his sixteenth birthday. Stupid girly curls. The kid didn't seem to mind.

His skin was the same colour as Wolf's, kind of trapped in the limbo between olive and pale. Enough to not really fit in to a line up of typical English kids. He had a little mouth and nose and tiny fingers that clasped the hem of his plain yellow t-shirt as he eyed Wolf with giant eyes. They were deep, dark brown, chocolate coloured and they stared at Wolf unabashedly. They were like hawk eyes. Determined and intense and unflinching. Just like his father's.

'Hello,' Wolf growled, cursing himself internally for his rough voice and lack of consideration. Why hadn't he brought a damn toy? Would have kept the kid busy in the back seat.

Jack just watched him closely.

'Here's his stuff,' the woman at the door who hadn't introduced herself said, thumbing at a small suitcase and an even smaller backpack on the floor. Wolf blinked.

'That's it?' He asked. The woman shrugged, handing him the ragged piece of paper she'd pulled out of her... place. Wolf took it gingerly, stuffing it in his left pocket. The one he never used.

'There's an address in there for some storage place in Wales that has the rest of the stuff. Guess you'll have to get it shipped to you,' she said.

'Thanks,' Wolf said. Jack stole one last glance at Wolf before he leaned over to pick up his backpack, struggling into the straps. He tried to lift his suitcase too, determinedly, but it tugged his little arm with so much weight that he had to set it down again. Wolf took it absently and lugged it out to the car, throwing it in the boot.

'You got a booster seat?' The woman asked sharply, frowning. Wolf shrugged and shook his head.

'That's illegal. Guess I've given you your warning now,' she twittered, laughing a kind of wheezy coughing smoker's laugh.

Jack tugged open the rusted car door that whined loudly in protest and clambered up onto the back seat. He couldn't quite buckle himself in but he tried doggedly and eventually persevered, little tongue poking out in concentration. Wolf almost smiled as he closed the back door. He got that same expression when he was concentrating.

He said an awkward goodbye to the woman, running a hand over his short hair nervously before he climbed back into the driver's seat. He glanced at Snake, who said nothing, and then used the rear view mirror to very conspicuously look at his kid. His offspring, perched somberly on the back seat with a little backpack resting beside him.

The little hands, clutching the seat belt anxiously. The feet dangling in mid air, not long enough to reach the floor. The determined set to the smooth jaw. And the eyes. When they were staring out the window, watching the council estate drift passed as Wolf pulled back out onto the national road, they looked sad. Like the kid was sad in his soul. A sadness so deep and desperate that no tears would come.

And then the eyes were on Wolf and they were watching him again, giving away nothing. They were piercing as he and Wolf stared at each other in the mirror.

And then Jack finally spoke.

'You're stupid.'

* * *

**_Quick question: Which AR character would you like to go on a road trip with?_**

**_-DIBAW_**


	2. Something To Talk About

**Disclaimer: I do not own the AR series. Chapter title comes from a Badly Drawn Boy song. Don't own that either.**

* * *

'Luke, I have to say, it's like looking at you. Y'know, if you were smaller and less violently inclined. And, y'know, less muscly. Oh, and with curly hair; kinda like a girl, y'know? And-'

'Matt, d'you think you're maybe pushing it a little bit?' Fox said, setting the drinks down on the table. Wolf accepted his with a grunt of thanks; they'd always kept a close eye on whose round it was. Well, Snake did. It was something of a talent of his, considering how mullered they usually got on a Saturday night. Or a Sunday before a bank holiday. Or when they had leave. Or when they weren't on patrol. Even when the rest of them were spilling drinks, Snake had enough wits about him to slur out 'Luke's round'.

'What? It's a big fucking deal, though, isn't it? I mean, one of us has a kid. Of their very own. It's like I'm an uncle!' Eagle crowed, drinking deeply from his pint, genuinely delighted with himself.

'You prat. You already have a nephew and a niece. How are you getting on anyway, mate?' Fox asked. He was trying in vain to open a tiny packet of peanuts, half of his attention on that and half of it on Wolf's answer.

The pub they were sitting in, The Rowdy Beggar, was fairly deserted. It was Sunday afternoon and the only other customers were a pair of women sitting in the corner, an old man by the toilets and three men playing darts. The women were drinking those stupid fruity cocktails that women seemed to like, the old man was nursing a pint of Guinness and the men playing darts seemed to be swilling cider.

The three soldiers crowded round a table that was much too small for them, sitting on stools and drinking lager slowly, more for the taste than the actual alcohol. At the other end of the bar, Jack was perched atop one of the tall stools at the counter, trying to build a card house out of beer mats.

Wolf watched the boy for a minute. His tongue poked out slightly from between his lips as he tried in vain to make the beer mats stay up. He'd get about two of them standing together and then, when he'd go to lay one top, they'd all crumple. Wolf felt guilty that he didn't really care what the kid was doing, so long as it was quiet. Then again, he had left him with a glass of coke and some peanuts.

'Uh, fine. I think. He's just… Last night we got home about three in the morning and he was still awake. Had to leave him on the sofa 'cause my room was a tip. He doesn't fucking talk. At all. Aren't kids supposed to talk?' Wolf said.

'Oh yeah. My nephew never shuts up. And my niece, Christ, I don't think I've ever seen her with her mouth shut for more than a minute. Kids though, isn't it? I mean- Ahhhh. Fucker! Why'd you kick- Oh. Shit. Sorry,' Eagle said, fixing his eyes on his pint bashfully.

'Nah, all kids are different, right?' Fox reassured loyally. Wolf's eye flickered back to Jack, sitting over at the bar. 'Anyway, have you got him registered in a school yet?'

'No, not yet. I don't even know what fucking class he's in or shit like that,' Wolf said, swigging his drink morosely.

'You should talk to Mark about that shit; he's good with paper pushing,' Eagle said emphatically. 'Anyway, I was just telling my, uh, lady friend about it yesterday. She's doing a degree in child psychology or some bullshit like that. Said if you need any help, give her a call.'

'That's really very touching except I don't know the woman,' Wolf glowered more in the direction of his drink than at his friend. Eagle and Fox exchanged worried looks that Wolf guessed he wasn't supposed to see.

'So what time did you get back at last night? Mark rang round this morning telling us to be 'sensitive' and stuff like that. I said, 'Mark, mate, I'm so fucking sensitive all the time.' Like he needed to tell me. He sounded wrecked though. Where'd you say you had to go to pick the little squirt up again?' Eagle asked.

'Up to some shithole of a place called Scap,' Wolf said. He glanced over at the two women in the corner. One was a dyed blond, the other a brunette.

'Scap? Sounds like an STD. Hey, d'you remember what's her face, the one who thought feudalism was an STD? She was so thick. Mind you, you can actually see why she might think that. I mean, can't you just imagine someone saying 'Oh shit, I've got a terrible case of feudalism'?' Fox said.

'Yeah. What was her name again? Hey, Luke, you with us mate?' Eagle said, chuckling.

'Hello? Earth to Luke?' Fox followed his friend's line of vision. 'Oh no Luke, you can't be serious. She looks like you could catch anything off her.'

'Oh yes Ben. I'll help out with the token ugly mate if you want,' Eagle said, swigging some of his drink gamely. Fox's nose scrunched in disgust; Eagle seemed to have some kind of psychological thing about making it with the ugliest girl in the room. Scratch that, in every room.

'Luke, you have a kid. And Matt, what the fuck is wrong with you? You spent last Wednesday nattering on the phone with me for a half hour about how great your new girlfriend is,' Fox admonished.

Wolf shrugged but Eagle looked suitably ashamed.

'Besides, Mark'd have kittens if I let you get away with it. Where is he anyway?' Fox said.

'He was meeting some bird for lunch, the steamer. Though have to give him credit. He's practically being stalked,' Eagle said, drinking more from his pint.

Wolf finally looked away from the two women at that, glancing quickly over at Jack to make sure he was still there. Sure enough, he was still struggling away with his beer mat tower.

'What?' Wolf asked.

'Same again?' Eagle said, climbing to his feet with a grin. He'd always had a bit of a theatrical flare and derived an almost unseemly amount of pleasure at leaving Wolf staring at a cliff hanger. It delighted the former and sent the latter into a disproportionate rage.

'Matt you prick, sit back down and-'

'Same again it is then,' Eagle said, so pleased with himself that he nearly tripped and skulled himself on the counter.

'Relax, Luke. It's nothing big but I can tell you about it if you really want to know,' Fox said, ever the peace keeper.

'Yeah? What's he talking about, Mark getting stalked?' Wolf demanded. On any other occasion, he knew Fox would've torn ruthlessly into him. 'Worried about your boyfriend?' The whole set of homophobic jokes would be remembered and rehashed for weeks. But, then again, Fox did have some self preservation instincts.

'Well Mark keeps getting these calls. On his mobile and his house phone. It's some girl, but she never says anything much. She just breathes down the line and cries and says his name a lot. He reckons it's an ex-girlfriend or something,' said Fox.

'Mark? You're having a laugh. How sad would you have to be to stalk Mark? I mean, he's hardly the pinnacle of male evolution, is he?' Wolf snorted.

'Yeah, as opposed to the missing link between ape and man that you are. Course it really freaks him out but he can't really do anything about it, can he?' Fox said, sitting back again. Wolf hadn't even noticed that he'd leaned forward.

'Well why'd he not say anything?' Wolf asked, sounding petulant even to his own ears.

'Matt found out first, and that was only 'cause Mark got one when the two of them were in the toilets at Club 21 the other day. And I only heard when Eagle blabbed to me yesterday while you and Mark were going to Scap. Don't make a big song and dance out of it though, alright? I think Mark's embarrassed about it,' Fox said.

Wolf nodded sagely, eyes flickering back to the women in the corner. The brunette looked sort of like Lara Croft but maybe his eyesight was getting a bit fuzzy. Eagle returned presently with more drinks, grinning smugly.

'I already told him, you git,' Fox said, instantly popping Eagle's bubble. In his opinion, that was the past way to handle the immature grown child who he considered to be a good friend.

'Spoilsport. So Luke, how'd yesterday go anyway?'

'We drove in Mark's clapped out piece of shit car all the way up to Scap. Place was an absolute dump. Then we picked up the kid and drove back again,' Wolf said.

'Did you explain to the kid what was going on?' Fox asked.

'Well, I sort of tried but I don't think he was really listening. The only thing he's said to me so far is 'Your stupid'. Little punk,' Wolf glowered.

'What, he hurt your feelings?' Fox queried incredulously. 'Grow the fuck up Luke. He's five years old. Did you tell him anything about who you are?'

'Eh, no, not as such. But I just assumed that he knows I'm his dad and that's he really needs to know, isn't it?' Wolf said, swallowing some of his drink.

'The hell it is. You're telling me you didn't tell him anything about you? Did you ask about him?' Fox spluttered.

'No.'

'Jesus mate, sometimes I forget that you've got the emotional range of a table,' Eagle chuckled fondly.

'Shut the fuck up. If the kid wants to know something he'll ask me, won't he?'

'D'you know anything about him, Luke? D'you know what he likes to do, who his best friend is? What's his favourite colour? D'you even know his middle name?' Fox hammered the questions in as hard as he could, as angrily as he felt.

'Ben, I met him for the first time yesterday and he hasn't said three fucking words to me! The fuck d'you want me to do!' Wolf snapped.

It was only after he'd said it that he realized how aggressive he'd sounded. Fox blinked, seemingly stunned by the outburst and Eagle sat on his stool agog, his mouth open wide enough to fit a tennis ball in to it without touching his teeth.

And Wolf couldn't take that, the way they were staring at him like he was bang out of order, like he was the one being unreasonable. Pricks.

He got up, knocking his stool over in his righteous indignation and pivoted, ready to engage in a code red Wolf storm out. Of course, he'd have to go grab the kid first but he was fairly confident that the dramatic flair wouldn't suffer.

'Ah mate, don't be so fucking hormonal!' Eagle called.

'Luke, sit down you tosser!'

They sounded more amused than actually quaking in fear at his just fury. Huh. Maybe he'd have to work on his storming out a little. Usually it was terrifying enough to make puppies cry; all it seemed to be doing was making his arsehole friends crease themselves laughing.

And there, leaning on the bar, was the biggest arsehole of the lot. Who just happened to be laughing the hardest.

'Alright, Luke?' Snake asked cheerfully. He handed the barmaid a note and smiled, thanking her for the glass of orange juice.

'Alright. You drinking orange juice?'

'No, no. It's for Jack. Coke has a lot of sugar in it. You'll have a job settling him if you let him have too much of it,' Snake said, sliding the glass over in front of Jack.

'Right. Jack, aren't you gonna thank Mark for that drink? Here, let me pay you back for it,' Wolf delved into his pocket distractedly for his wallet. Jack didn't look up from his beer mat game.

'Relax, it's fine. My round anyway,' Snake said.

'Fuck would you know?'

'You left your empties on the table and it was Ben's to start. And d'you think it's a good idea to let Jack hear words like that? Might start getting ideas,' said Snake.

'Fat chance. Hasn't said a word since the drive home,' Wolf whispered conspiratorially as he let Snake lead him back over to their table.

'Well he's had a shock, hasn't he? Give him a little time and a lot of attention. Why've you got him down here anyway?' Snake asked.

'Oi oi Mark! How's it going! Did you get any new info on the bunny boiler!' Eagle chirped loudly. Snake flushed and shushed at the same time, taking his seat and beckoning for Wolf to take the stool beside him. He set the drinks out on the table and Eagle drained the rest of his pint to move on to the next one. Fox smiled in appreciation.

'No, nothing. Clara's not the type. I was going to ask you to help me with it, Ben. You spies know all about tracing numbers don't you?' Snake said ruefully.

Eagle whistled between his teeth. 'Wow. Must be getting serious if you want to let the intelligence services loose on her,' he said. Snake's face actually looked just like a cherry tomato. Fox elbowed Eagle. 'Sorry mate. Maybe that was a bit insensitive.'

'No, no, it's fine. You don't have to tiptoe around me like I'm a pregnant woman. I just… I'm worried,' Snake said.

'Yeah, I would be too, to be honest. I mean, she might try and rape you or something,' Eagle snorted.

'Not about me, you moron. I'm worried- Forget it. We still on for lunch at mine tomorrow, after the training exercise? How'd you swing getting assigned to the counter-terrorism response training team, Ben?' Snake asked.

'I have my ways,' said Fox, drinking deeply from his pint.

'Yeah, at repulsing women. You haven't pulled since year eleven,' Eagle jeered.

'Yeah, 'cause you're so irresistible to women. You haven't had a serious relationship with anyone who wasn't your mother,' Wolf grunted, Fox and Snake chuckling.

'Well, there was your mother,' Eagle replied. The others changed sides in less than a second, the line delighted their pea sized brains so much. Wolf glowered but couldn't really get his heart into it; he had walked into that one.

'Shut it,' he snapped.

'Snappy comeback. I like it,' Eagle said in a sing-song voice.

'Alright, enough's enough. So you free loading pricks will be sponging lunch off my parents tomorrow?' Snake asked.

'Yeah, sure. Why does your old lady want us 'round anyway? You know we're gonna tear through her lunch like a pack of locusts,' said Fox.

'I'm not really sure. She's got a, uh, over hospitality tendency. Plus she's got issues about the whole army thing. My older brother died in service and she's always trying to feed up any soldier she can; he starved to death.'

There was a minute of awkward silence. Snake stared at the table, Fox picked at a hangnail, Eagle drank some more of his pint and Wolf glanced over at the women in the corner again.

'Sorry,' Snake cleared his throat, 'that came out wrong. She'd just really like a chance to feed someone other than me and Patrick. She loves seeing people enjoy her food.'

''Course we'll be there, mate,' Wolf assured.

'Great. They live out in Luton now and the training finishes up at about three. She's not expecting us 'til five so we'll have plenty of time to get back to London from Swindon; you won't need to hire someone to look after Jack, Luke, 'cause you can pick him up then,' said Snake.

'Your folks are alright with him coming?' Wolf asked, quickly checking over his shoulder to make sure the kid was still in the same place. He seemed to have given up on the beer mat tower.

'They'd be gutted if he didn't. They love kids. I called ahead to ask and they're looking forward to seeing Jack more than seeing me,' Snake said.

'Great. I'll make sure he's on his best behaviour,' Wolf said, mostly because it sounded like the sort of thing a parent might say.

'So, who's driving?' Snake asked.

'Bags not it!' Eagle yelled, attracting curious glances from the rest of the customers.

'Keep you voice down you prick. It's not Luke, anyway,' said Fox.

'Why not?' Wolf asked.

'Eh, I don't know. Maybe because you drive like an absolute maniac. Or maybe because your car is the shittiest one I've ever seen outside of a scrap yard. Or maybe-'

'Alright, shut it, dickhead,' Wolf interrupted Snake snappily.

'Sorry mate, but Mark has a point. I don't trust you to drive my car and I wouldn't travel in your car unless you were paying me. You're not paying me, are you?' Eagle asked.

'No,' Wolf replied.

'You're not driving,' said Eagle, 'can't be me. I leant my, uh, my… um… my special friend! Yeah, I leant my special friend my wheels for the week. She only just got her licence.'

'Can't you drive my car? I don't need it 'cause the company takes us by private car,' Fox said.

'Jammy bastard.'

'I wish. You get travel expenses for your trouble,' Fox griped.

'You make about fifty percent more than us, you flash bitch,' Wolf growled.

'Yeah but you should see my overdraft.'

'Oh fuck off. Anyway, it's settled. We're taking Ben's car. Matt drives to Swindon, Mark drives to Luton 'cause he knows the way,' Fox ruled democratically. Eagle shrugged and Snake nodded, satisfied.

Fox deliberated for a minute, took a large swig of his pint and then seemed to gather his courage. 'Right then. I suppose now would be a good time to make my announcement,' he said.

'Don't tell me you have a secret love child too,' Eagle queried.

'No you twat. I've- I'm moving in with a woman. We've been seeing each other for about three months now and I'm moving in with her,' said Fox.

'You've got a bird? You? Foxy, why'd you not say anything?' Eagle was aghast.

''Cause I knew you'd take the mick. She's really great but she used to be a… well, she still is…. she's a…. she's a pole dancer. Alright? I said it,' Fox said.

There was absolute silence for a minute before the table slapping laughter ripped from the other three. Fox's lips twitched at their reactions; Snake looked like he might die, Eagle was in serious danger of falling off his stool and Wolf was making a noise sort of like a cross between a goat's bleat and a dog's bark.

'You…. You…. She's a…. Bah!' Eagle spluttered.

'Before you ask, that's not how I met her,' Fox bit out.

'But she…. Mate, that's absolutely…. Mah!' Eagle tried to articulate himself again.

'And she doesn't take her clothes off or anything,' Fox said.

'Fah!' Eagle sounded like he was choking.

'And lastly, she's great. Now shut the fuck, will you?' said Fox.

'Sorry.'

'Yeah, mate.'

'That's fucking priceless, that is. How did you meet her?' Eagle asked, once he'd managed to scoop together a little composure.

'I… Don't laugh, alright? Her kid puked in my hair when I was walking past her front garden.'

He waited another few minutes for his friends to collect themselves.

'Wait a sec. She's got a kid?' Snake asked eventually.

'Three, actually. Two girls and a boy. The girls are great, the boy's a little prick; he's the one who vommed all over my hair. The girls are Emma and Abigail, the boy's name is Noah. Emma's five, Abigail's seven and Noah's nine,' Fox said.

'And their mother?' Wolf asked.

'Sophie's twenty four. She had Noah when she was fifteen but she's a great mum. Actually, I meant to ask if you though Jack might like to visit them some time, make friends and that sort of stuff,' said Fox.

'Yeah, maybe. So your happy with Sophie and her kids then, are you?' Wolf said, drinking.

'I am. I really like her a lot. Who knows where it'll go? I've got to wait a little before I tell her about my job though, and that's the main pain in my arse. Official secrets act bullshit. But I've dropped her a few hints about why so I can't see it causing us much trouble,' Fox shrugged.

'That's good then. So Ben and Matt are in a relationship. Hopefully not together, though you can't really be sure with those two. Mark's got girls stalking him. And I've got a kid. I think we're all making progress this week,' said Wolf.

'Fuck off. I'd put money on you being the one stalking Mark. 'Ooooh Mark, you're like a modern day William Wallace! Gimme a smooch you Scottish sex machine you!',' Eagle did a shrill take on Wolf's voice. It wasn't a half bad impression. Not that Wolf would ever tell him so anyway.

'A smooch? That came from a dark place, didn't it Matt?' Fox said.

'You, sir, are an arsehole. Now, I'd like to propose a toast,' Eagle raised his voice to include everyone in the room. Strangely enough, he managed to get everybody's attention. It was like something out of a bad movie.

'To progress!' He thrust his half empty glass into the air and drained the dregs, smacking his lips. He didn't even care that the other customers all did the exact same, following suit.

'You've got to hand it to him,' said Wolf, 'he does gather a following. He'd probably get elected Prime Minister.'

'That's not something I'd like to dwell on,' Fox shuddered.

'Fair point. Anyway, I'd better head. I was gonna look up schools when I got home,' Wolf said, finishing the last drop of his drink and climbing to his feet.

'Your round next time fuckface,' Eagle crowed. Wolf flipped him off, crossing the bar to where Jack sat on his stool. He'd finished his orange juice and the beer mats were sprawled in a disgruntled scatter on the counter. The barman eyed Wolf disapprovingly and Wolf tossed him a glance, a kind of line in the sand about fucking with him; he was hungry and tired and he wanted to go home. In the end, the man went back to drying glasses.

'C'mon, we're going home,' Wolf said. Jack's small shoulders tensed and he started stacking the beer mats he'd been playing with meticulously.

'Jack, I'm not standing around all day watching you play with those. We're going. Hurry up,' Wolf said firmly.

'You can leave those, lad, I'll tidy 'em up. Sorry the castle didn't work out,' said the barman in a gruff tone, reaching over to stack the bar mats, giving them the attention Jack had, ignoring his customers for a minute to please the boy.

Jack nodded and smiled slightly at the barman, more a twitch of his lips than anything. The barman grinned back.

'Your welcome. Go on now, Jack. Might see you around.'

Finally, Jack jumped down from his stool. Wolf nearly laughed out loud; the kid had literally jumped off the stool, going over the side with the grim determination of a para trooper. He grabbed Jack's coat off the back of the stool and held it out to him.

Jack ignored it and Wolf felt his already quite limited stores of patience burning up fast.

'See you in the morning, Luke! Remember, it's starting at 0800 hours sharp. I'll knock round for you at 0600. Be ready fucknuts,' Eagle called across the bad, earning himself a boot from Fox and an extremely expressive eye roll from Snake. Strangely enough, the eye roll had more effect.

'Bye Jack. Look after your dad,' Snake didn't have to shout to be heard. Wolf gave them a quick wave over his shoulder before he headed for the doors, Jack towing along in his wake.

Once they were outside, he offered Jack the coat again. The boy wouldn't take it.

'Jack, put on your coat. It's cold,' Wolf ordered. Jack's jaw set stubbornly, his eyes trying to burn holes in the pavement. Wolf waited a minute for the kid to take the jacket and when he didn't, Wolf just shrugged. 'Fine. You wanna catch a cold, that's absolutely fine by me.'

If Jack was in anyway bothered by the harsh words, he didn't let it show.

Once they got home, Jack retreated to the corner of the living room with his backpack, wordless as ever. Wolf let him be and went to check the kitchen for something to feed the kid.

His haul was a meagre one. Some out of date milk, a box of four eggs, of which three had cracked. There was the stale heel of a loaf of bread in one of the cupboards and he discovered some corn flakes that looked okay at the very back of one of the presses.

He sniffed the milk tentatively and decided that two days didn't really count as out of date. After all, they had to move those kind of warnings a couple of days forward for health and safety reasons. Cornflakes for lunch it was then.

He had only one bowl and it was slightly chipped, but he washed it before he poured the cereal just in case there was any dust or anything in it.

Then he brought the bowl of cereal in to Jack, offering it to him with a spoon wordlessly. Jack shook his head and Wolf knew if the kid kept up the silent treatment it was going to drive him absolutely crazy.

'Jack, you have to eat,' he said, setting the bowl on the floor beside where the kid sat Native American style.

Jack shook his head and Wolf pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling and exhaling for a minute. He didn't know what to do. Maybe Snake would… He was half tempted to ring his friend when Jack shrugged.

'Not hungry,' he mumbled.

Wolf smirked to himself. That was good, talking was good. Talking he could handle. When the kid was doing his whole picture no sound act, he wanted to bash his own head against a wall.

'You haven't eaten since last night. It's half two. You must be hungry,' Wolf reasoned.

Jack shook his head. He was holding a toy to his chest, a bright blue stuffed fish, like his life depended on it.

'C'mon, at least try some,' said Wolf.

Jack looked irritated but he picked up the spoon and picked at the cereal unenthusiastically. Figuring that there was nothing else to be done but force feed the boy (something Wolf had serious doubts about the legality of), Wolf retreated to the other end of the living room and sat in his favourite chair, flicking the telly on.

He darted through the channels as quickly as possible, stopping when he reached C.S.I. Miami, one of his guiltiest pleasures. When the music came on, he took the lag of entertainment as an opportunity to study Jack.

The little boy who now shared his apartment wasn't loud or abrasive or even particularly big. He barely talked and he didn't demand attention or misbehave. He wasn't like any child Wolf had ever met before. He'd never have considered himself an expert on children, but in his mental encyclopaedia, he did have some information logged. They were expensive and ridiculously cheerful and everything they did was to get noticed. Jack didn't fit with that and Wolf wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He watched his son, taking as much in as he could. Jack was wearing the same clothes as the day before and every few minutes he would pluck at the front of his bright red t-shirt habitually. Some of the things he saw were things he recognized though. The way he ran a hand through his hair every few minutes. His furrowed eyebrows and those curls. That determined set to his mouth. The scowl. They were all Wolf things.

The programme started properly then and Wolf sat there mindlessly, trying to guess who the killer was. It turned out to be the butler. Of course, the butler. They'd found a speck of paint from the car that'd killed the rich man on a button that'd been in the dead guy's house. Turned out the butler'd found out about the evidence and cut a button of the dead guy's son's coat. They got him on fingerprints in the end.

After that Jamie Ryle came on, sorting out the problems of a nation one family at a time. Wolf liked watching the meltdowns but he was pretty sure that it was scripted. After all, why would anybody go on national television to accuse their mother of sleeping with their fiancé? Made good television though, in Wolf's humble opinion.

It was half over by the time Wolf realized that it might not be considered suitable for a five year old to hear. He glanced over at Jack guiltily but the kid was staring out the window with his back to Wolf.

Once it finished, Wolf silently debated with himself over what to do then. It was four o' clock and he had nothing to cook for dinner.

He wasn't due to be paid for another six days and his rent, car insurance and bills had already eaten away a sizable chunk of last month's money. He couldn't really afford to get a takeaway. He decided that his cash would do much more at the supermarket than Mc Donalds.

'Jack, c'mon, we're going shopping. For food and stuff,' Wolf said.

Jack climbed to his feet unhurriedly, still clutching the bright blue stuffed fish. Wolf wondered if maybe he ought to take the kid's hand but he wasn't sure how Jack would respond so in the end he wussed out.

While he drove, Wolf found his mind wandering intolerably; he'd never had a wandering mind or attention problems before. But on that trip to the supermarket, he couldn't seem to focus. He had so many things nagging at his brain for attention.

Firstly, obviously, there was Jack. The kid was a kid. Not even a kid like Cub but a little kid. And he was so _small_. Wolf didn't consider himself an expert on child development or anything but the boy was something of a short arse. Sometimes, a random concern would float into his head like 'What if someone picks on him?' or 'How am I gonna tell him all about the birds and the bees?' There were so many questions, he wondered if they'd occurred to Mel when she'd popped the little sprog out five years ago.

Secondly, there was money. Always money. Wolf's parents were actually quite upper class- not millionaires but not exactly badly off either. But it'd probably have killed him to ask them for money. He'd moved out as soon as he finished school and put himself through university on a student loan and every single piece of spare work he could get.

As such, he'd always lived quite modestly. Not always by choice either. But once he'd gotten a bit of experience and some rank in the SAS, he'd paid off his loans. It wasn't like he had enough to live like a king but the money he made was good enough to keep him. his apartment and his car. How was he going to factor a kid into that as well?

Thirdly, and he wouldn't have admitted it to Snake under threat of bodily harm, he was holding a pity party for himself mentally. Of all the people to have a kid foisted on them, it had to be him. Not Eagle, who was a child himself. Not Fox, who was settling down with a mother. Not even Snake, the natural paragon of maturity. No, him, the one who scowled a lot. Actually, that was probably exactly how the rest of the world saw his role in the unit as.

'Jack,' Wolf asked, shaking his head like a dog who'd just climbed out of a pond. 'What d'you like to eat?'

Jack shrugged and for a minute Wolf thought he'd go back to being the Incredible Mute Boy, who spoke only to insult and argue.

'Well, what did your mum used to make for you?' He asked, trying to coax a proper answer out of the boy. It wasn't hard to keep an eye on the road and in the rear-view mirror in the slow speed zone.

'She makes me chicken and pasta and lasagne and things like that,' Jack said. Wolf wanted to do a happy dance; the kid was talking and none of what he'd named sounded that hard to cook.

Then, after a minute, he actually considered what Jack had said. He'd said makes. As in present tense. For the first time, Wolf wondered if Jack actually understood what had happened to his mother.

'Great. So d'you want me to pick up anything special for you inside?' Wolf asked as he parked up in the shopping centre car park. Jack considered for a minute and then shrugged again.

'D'you like chocolate?' Wolf enquired.

'Yeah. Mum buys it for me all the time. Sometimes we have ice cream for dinner,' Jack said. Wolf watched him for a minute in the rear-view mirror, just to ascertain that what the kid had just said was bullshit. The little boy's expression was so innocent. If Wolf hadn't known that Mel was a fitness freak, he might actually have believed it.

He didn't offer any criticism though. Instead, he got out of the car and waited til Jack was beside him. 'C'mon, we can go get a trolley,' he said. The little boy trudged along behind him, still holding the blue fish to his chest in a death grip.

Once Wolf managed to wrestle a trolley from the others, he hesitated. Would Jack want to sit in the trolley or was he too old for that? He certainly didn't look too big. After a minute of delay, Wolf decided that he'd wait and see what Jack did.

The boy didn't ask about sitting in it as Wolf wheeled the trolley in the doors of the supermarket, so Wolf didn't bother mentioning it. The shop was pretty busy for a Sunday and he started worrying that Jack might get lost, but mostly the kid stayed in step beside him.

Wolf steered the trolley up and down the aisles slowly, keeping an eye on the total but not really that worried about it. He had more than enough when he took change into account as well.

In the cereal aisle, he nearly bumped into a woman with a trolley but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she was giving the eye until she saw Jack tagging along behind him. As soon as she caught sight of the kid, she grabbed a box of muesli and beat feet.

He was just deciding whether to get corn flakes or crunchy nut when he happened to glance back over his shoulder and noticed that Jack wasn't standing where he had been a minute before. He glanced up and down the aisle. No Jack.

Idly, Wolf wondered if maybe he ought to panic. After all, he couldn't see the kid. But exactly how dangerous could a supermarket be? And anyway, Jack was five. It wasn't like he would wander far. He waited in the same spot for five minutes then decided to just keep shopping. If Jack needed him, he'd come find him, wouldn't he?

Wolf was in the bread aisle, trying to figure out a way to test the loaves without having to squeeze them like a pervert when he spotted Jack at the other end of the shop.

He looked even smaller than usual from the distance but Wolf could easily pick him out with that bright red t-shirt and the dark, chaotic hair. The little boy was standing in front of a guy dressed up like a clown; yellow one piece, bright orange wig and a big red nose. Wolf tossed one of the loaves into the trolley and turned it, wheeling his way down to Jack. So, he thought to himself, the kid likes clowns.

The clown was obviously promoting something and sure enough when Wolf got closer he could see the large red advertisement stand and the coupons the clown was handing out. He'd drawn a handful of kids to him from all over the store, a couple of benevolent parents watching over the whole scene with exasperated indulgence.

Wolf decided not to interrupt. He'd let Jack hang out with the other kids, enjoy the entertainment, maybe make a few friends. It'd be good for the boy. He'd go and finish the shopping.

At least, that was the plan until a pretty blond woman caught his eye and smiled at him. He smiled politely back and she strolled over, a basket in one arm, what looked like a child's coat in the other.

'Hello,' she said, flashing him another perfect teeth smile, 'Can't say I get the attraction.' She gestured at the children who were clearly besotted by the clown. Wolf grinned. She was beautiful and, apparently, she didn't care that he had a kid.

'Nah, me neither. Clowns freak me out,' replied Wolf. The clown pranced from one foot to the other enthusiastically. Wolf wondered how much money they were paying the poor guy.

'That I get. I'm Jess,' said the woman.

'Luke.' He offered her his hand and they shook.

'That's my son over there, Ross,' she pointed out a little blond boy standing right in the middle of the other kids, beaming.

'Oh. Uh, that's Jack,' Wolf flicked his thumb over at Jack. In contrast, his kid was hanging back from the others with his hands dangling by his sides helplessly. His body was frozen to the spot, eyes glued to the clown, mouth clenched.

'He's cute. I like the curls. But is he scared of clowns or something?' Jess asked, frowning worriedly. She kept watching Jack, even after Wolf's eyes had fallen back to her.

'What? I don't think so. Why?'

'He just looks a little… scared, I guess,' she said.

'Uh, I think he's just nervous around the other kids.'

'Shy?'

'Barely talks to me.'

Jess chuckled, her face losing a bit of the worry it had etched into it. Wolf wondered if he'd look like that after a few years with a kid.

'Really? How old is he?' She asked.

'Five,' Wolf replied.

'Hey! Ross is five and four months. Maybe you two could come over some time for them to play together. I never get to meet anybody outside my single parents group these days,' Jess said, pulling out her phone and handing it to Wolf. 'Go ahead and add your number.'

Wolf grinned and did as she'd asked. She was beautiful. She was single. And apparently she thought that having a kid was a positive feature. He'd have to text his friends about it later.

'Cool. So it's just you and Ross then?' He asked, sussing her out with all the subtlety of a drunken elephant.

'Yeah. His dad never wanted to know. What about you and Jack?'

'His mother's dead. Actually, I've only known him two days. She never told me and I'm struggling to get to grips with the whole parenting thing,' Wolf said, laying it on thick. Jess' eyes widened in surprise and she made a sympathetic noise.

'You poor guy! And poor Jack! You two have to come over. I'll text you tonight with my number and you call me anytime if you need help, alright?' Jess said, resting her hand on his forearm. Wolf nodded, feeling slightly guilty that he'd used the boy as a chat up line. Screw it, he'd make it up to Jack later. Buy him a toy or something.

He was about to smile at Jess. He was about to tell her that sounded fantastic. He was about to thank her.

But he never got a chance to.

Greg Harris had been doing the whole Riley O' Reilly the clown deal for two weeks and he was already fed up of it. The money was rubbish, the hours were brutal and the suit stank of old farts. He was tired and hungry and the last thing he wanted to do was prance around to amuse a couple of snot nosed brats. But his supervisor always checked how many flyers he'd handed out, so he figured he'd better get a shift on and force one on all the little punks.

He managed to distribute them to the pack of tiny monsters without a fuss and he dithered over whether or not to approach the boy on the outskirts, the one on his own who hadn't moved for the past ten minutes. In the end, he decided not to exclude the kid and that it was nice to be nice. So he sprang over, flyer clutched in an outstretched hand.

The next thing Wolf heard was a scream like a tin whistle, more terrifying than a banshee, a shriek that went right through his head. It was like a loud, high pitched siren ringing in his brain.

He panicked, whirling around to find the clown and everybody else in the crowd staring in shock at Jack. The boy looked smaller than Wolf had ever imagined, standing there stock still with far away, jagged eyes that weren't seeing the same things as everybody else.

It was only after a minute that Wolf happened to glance down and notice that the kid had wet himself.

Wolf abandoned his trolley and crossed the aisle in two easy steps, full ready to spring into action. Then he stood there for a few seconds, wondering what, exactly, he was supposed to do.

Then Jess was by his shoulder with his trolley, her basket slung in on top of his stuff, calling Ross to her and telling him to hold onto the trolley. The blond boy obeyed immediately, gripping the metal and glancing at Jack out of the corner of his eye. And Wolf couldn't bear to see the look on Ross' face. That little blond prick was looking at Jack like he was weird, abnormal, a freak. Like he didn't belong. Wolf knew that those kind of looks stuck with a kid for life so he moved to stand between Ross and Jack, blocking both from seeing the other.

'Jack?' He said, not sure exactly what he was asking.

Jack's face was streaked with tear, messy tears, the kind that you never saw in movies because there was snot leaking and a little trembling mouth and a tiny body entirely wracked with sobs.

Wolf reached down at picked the kid up, something that felt completely unnatural for both of them. Jack was stiff in his arms, tense, trying to keep as few contact points as possible. Wolf was surprised to find that he wasn't even thinking about the possibility of having the kid's soaking jeans touching him. Instead, he was marvelling at how light Jack was.

'Hey man, I never-'

Greg Harris, aka Riley O' Reilly beloved clown, didn't get a chance to say anything more because Wolf grabbed his trolley and stormed off to the checkout, one hand steering, the other trying to support Jack.

It didn't take long for the cashier to tout up Wolf's modest purchases and, as a clumsy after thought, Wolf grabbed a bag of M&Ms and tacked them onto the end of the stuff. Jack's body heaved and sobbed silently in his hold.

The drive home was awkward, the only sound Jack's quiet crying. Wolf prayed that there was a change of clothes in Jack's suitcase and, seemingly, there was a god. He left the shopping on the kitchen table and carried Jack into the bathroom, setting him down on the floor, ready to cry himself.

Jack undressed wordlessly and climbed into the bath, still sobbing but silently and without tears, oddly enough. Wolf was worried that the kid would get sick but fortune seemed to be on his side because Jack didn't have anything to get sick with.

Wolf left him in the bathroom and went out to the living room, flopping down in his chair and cradling his head in his hands.

Apparently, he'd been wrong.

Jack clearly did not like clowns.

* * *

**_Right. It has been about eight months, hasn't it? You clicked on the Alex Rider link, you found my story, you read the whole thing and you wrote me a review. And I left you waiting nearly eight months for an update. If you were Wolf, I'd probably be dead by now. And I would completely deserve it._**

**_Now, rather than act like an enormous baby and give you excuses, I know that nothing would ever explain the delay. Hell, I'm not even sure how it happened. But I did write you an extra long chapter with a bit of everything- K-Unit hung out, Wolf got his flirt on and then had his first real taste of parenting. I wrote 8,071 words of an apology for you and I hope you accept._**

**_Also, I acknowledge that I'm not exactly Dickins. I really amn'ta good enough writer to make you wait around for my work. So I guarantee that from now on in, my updates will take no more than a month at most. Hopefully you'll have the next chapter in 2-3 weeks. If you have any grievances about characterisation (could someone clarify how that's spelt please?) or anything, do let me know. Oh, I also wanted to know what you thought about the language content of the story. I got a request to watch the swearing last chapter and just wanted to know if it bothered you guys._**

**_And one quick question. Which member of K-Unit do you think is most likely to be scared of clowns?_**

**_-DIBAW_**


	3. Highway to Hell

**Disclaimer: I do not own the AR series. Chapter title is a song by AC/DC.**

* * *

It was going on for seven o' clock when Wolf took Jack out of the bath. The kid was wrinkled and shrivelled like a little prune from all the time he'd spent soaking in the water and it occurred to Wolf that Jack had been stewing in his own dirt water for more than an hour. At least the kid hadn't made a mess in the bathroom.

Wolf managed to scrounge up a towel from his room that wasn't damp or smelly. He'd set it aside for after the training exercise in the morning but Jack's need was probably greater than his would be. Besides, he didn't mind using a used towel. He held it out to Jack awkwardly but the boy didn't take it so he was forced to wrap the boy in it himself.

He felt guilty rummaging through the kid's suitcase but he figured it was an emergency and tried to squash the hesitation. There were two changes of clothes, three sets of underwear, socks and vests and a pair of pyjamas. Briefly, he wondered whether to grab the pyjamas or a change of clothes. In the end, he settled on clean underwear and the pyjamas. They weren't going to be heading out again. He wasn't sure whether Jack would need help dressing, so he just left the clothes out on the sofa. Jack stood in the door of the bathroom and Wolf herded him out into the living room.

'Jack, d'you wanna get dressed now?' He asked. Jack didn't reply. It was really starting to scare Wolf; the boy's face was desolate, as unwelcoming and forbidding as a desert landscape.

'C'mon, you'll get a cold. I can start you off if you want,' Wolf offered. Jack didn't resist being shepherded back into the bathroom. Wolf felt like he was dressing a mannequin, slipping the boy's underwear on first.

The pyjamas were light blue with motorcycles on them and looked to be the kind you'd find in an upmarket department store. Huh. Wolf had never wondered about that before. All Jack's clothes were practical and a little too colourful for Wolf's taste, but they also looked casually quite expensive. Then again, Mel had always had a thing about looking presentable.

Once he'd tugged on Jack's bottoms, he was pretty much ready to collapse into his chair and spend the night congratulating himself on his skill. But first he dumped the dirty clothes into the washing machine and spent a few minutes trying to figure out how it worked. He'd never used the thing before and figured, with a shrug, that he ought to wait for a full load to really try. Then he remembered that it was getting on and Jack should probably eat something. He should too.

So he left Jack sitting on his chair in the living room and went to the kitchen. He'd bought a half dozen microwavable dinners and he took two out of the freezer, piercing the foil. Lasagne for Jack, curry for him. Perfect.

He pierced the foil with clumsy enthusiasm, wryly amused by the popping noise the air made. Then he stuck the lasagne in to the microwave, one of the very few culinary machines Wolf had mastered. Once it pinged, he tipped it onto a chipped plate and mushed it around with the cleanest of the three forks he owned. Satisfied, he left it in with Jack and went back out to wait on his curry.

He didn't have long to wait and he took his dinner inside, sitting on the sofa so that Jack could have the chair. There was nothing really great on the telly so he just left it on the news, keeping most of his attention on his dinner and another little bit on Jack. The kid hadn't touched his food.

There were still the dried tracks of tears on his face and every few seconds he'd blink but he didn't speak or move at all.

'Jack, you must be hungry by now,' Wolf said.

The kid didn't say or do anything.

Wolf finished his curry and retreated to the kitchen, dumping his plate in the sink. He clutched his mobile like it was a grenade, like he wanted to bung it out the window at the first opportunity.

What he really wanted was to call Snake, and he wanted it more than he'd ever wanted anything before. Just to hear the Scottish bastard tell him that pissing yourself at the sight of a clown was normal behaviour. Deep down, Wolf knew that it wasn't.

He almost had a heart attack when his phone went off in his hand. He jumped literally a foot in the air and swore loudly, running a hand over his short hair temperamentally. Then, he wondered if maybe he and Snake had developed some kind of telepathic bond. Maybe he just had to think at him to get him to call. He answered with more excitement than was strictly respectable, his troubles momentarily forgotten with the infantile idea that maybe he had a super power.

'Hello?'

'Hi, is that Luke?'

The caller was distinctly female, distinctly uncertain and distinctly not Snake.

'Yeah, who's this?' Wolf asked.

'It's me, Jess. Jess Young. We met in the supermarket. Ross' mum.'

'Oh. Hey. What can I do for you?'

'Well, I know it's a bit weird of me but I just wanted to call and ask if Jack was alright. He took a bit… a bit of a turn earlier,' said Jess worriedly. Wolf could hear a television in the background. She was watching the news too. Huh. That'd never happened to him before.

'Eh. Yeah. He's fine,' Wolf answered instinctively.

'Oh. Right then. That's great. It's what they're like at that age, isn't it? They bounce,' Jess said with false cheer.

'Yeah, yeah, I guess so. How's Ross?' Wolf changed the subject with all his usual subtlety.

'He's great. Actually, I meant to ask if maybe you and Jack would like to go for coffee with me and Ross. Sometime,' Jess said.

'Oh, Jack doesn't drink coffee,' Wolf said, hoping he sounded smooth and charming, trying not to growl. Apparently, he did a good job because Jess laughed.

'Very funny. And you, the mysterious Luke. Do you drink coffee?' She asked. Wolf blinked and grinned at her tone. They were flirting and she didn't care that he came with a kid attached.

'For you, maybe,' he said.

'Oh, I'm bowled over by your enthusiasm. How about the day after tomorrow, Tuesday evening? I'll call you to pick a time that suits,' Jess offered.

'Sure. I better go. Jack wants to, eh, play a game with me. Talk to you soon?'

'Definitely. Bye.'

'Bye.'

When he hung up he was struck by the stark silence that permeated his flat. The news was the only sound he could hear.

It took him a minute to dial Snake's number.

'Hey Luke. What is it?'

'Alright mate? I've got a problem here,' Wolf said.

'What's wrong?'

'It's Jack. He had a freak out in the shops and I dunno what to do with him. He won't eat, he won't talk to me. All he's doing is crying. And he pissed himself.'

'Shite. Well, maybe he's just upset. What set him off?' Snake asked.

'A clown. It's a pretty bad story. What am I s'posed to do with him, Matt?'

'Fuck if I know. Maybe talk to him about it. About how he feels.'

'Oh wonderful. Feelings. My fucking specialist subject.'

'Shut the fuck up. He's your son. You care about him, don't you?'

'Uh… Look, just… Tell me what to fucking do!'

'If I knew, I would. Just calm him down. He's probably missing his mum. Tell him it'll be alright. I meant to ask you, what are you doing with him while were on the exercise tomorrow?' Snake asked.

'Eh… I figured I'd just leave him in the flat and pick him up.'

If Wolf had known how badly that would go down with Snake, he'd never have mentioned it.

'What? You fucking twat. He's five years old. Hire a babysitter or something you tight arsed bastard,' Snake swore.

'Alright, calm down, keep your sanitary towel on. I'm not forking out good money for someone to come over and sit in my chair, eat my food and watch my telly. It goes against every single Santos instinct there is,' said Wolf.

'You cock fucking mother sucking Spanish looking bastard!'

'Jesus, relax. I'll just bring him along with me. They let people do that all the time, don't they?'

'You might be on to something, neglectful prick. Eagle brought his nephew one time, didn't he? I think they have a waiting room, don't they?'

'Yeah, yeah. They do. You're right. So I have a heart to heart with the kid, ruffle his hair then bring him on the training with me. Sounds like a plan,' said Wolf.

'God, that poor kid. You need to grow up.'

Snake hung up sharply, the dial tone like a slap in Wolf's face. He'd never heard Snake so mad at anyone. Ever. Even that time that Eagle urinated in Snake's boots and Snake had put them on.

It hurt. Not the urine in the boots thing, Wolf assumed. That was just good natured joking around. But the way Snake had spoken to him had been unnecessarily aggressive.

He went back to the living room and found Jack with his knees to his chest in the corner, staring out the window. For a minute he wanted to hug the kid, pat him on the back or something, but he found himself completely unable to make the contact.

'Jack, I've got to go working really early in the morning. But I can't leave you here so I was wondering if maybe you wanted to spend the day at work with me,' Wolf said tentatively.

There was no reply.

'I don't know if your mum told you or not but I work for the military. I'm a soldier. So tomorrow I have to get up really early to go practice and I'm gonna bring you with me. Would you like that?'

'Mum told Nana that you're not nice. I don't want to stay with someone who's not nice,' Jack said, his voice quiet and cracking with every few words. Wolf sat down in his chair and pretended nothing had happened, that it was no big deal. If he made a fuss, Jack might not talk again.

'I want my mum.'

The kid sounded so upset that Wolf wanted to tell him that he could go see his mum. He wanted to say that she was just on holiday or something but even he, the knucklehead, knew that he'd only make things worse if he didn't confront it.

'I want my mum.'

'I know, Jack. It's just that-'

'Please can I have my mum back?'

Wolf glanced at his phone to check the time. Almost eight. That was near enough bed time for a five year old, wasn't it? Wolf had a lot of experience with early morning rising and he figured it'd be better to head off to sleep earlier rather than later. Besides, he was feeling a bit knackered.

'You tired Jack?'

The little boy shrugged.

'I'll make up the sofa for you to sleep on. Go brush your teeth,' Wolf said. Jack struggled to his feet, snivelling, and then trudged off to the bathroom.

Wolf's flat was sparsely furnished, a regular bachelor pad. He'd never lived it in for more than six months at a time; the SAS rotation assignments always had his unit out on duty for half of the year. That was something he'd have to change now that he had Jack with him. What furniture he had was in fair enough condition; there was his beloved chair, the telly and stand and a two seat heavily cushioned sofa in the living room. In the kitchen he had most of the usual appliances, along with a poker table that he usually ate off and two foldable chairs. There were, officially, two bedrooms, but one was barely big enough for the boxes and junk he'd stashed in it when he'd moved in. There was his bed (a double one with no sheets and a too-heavy duvet) and a bedside locker in his room. His clothes were usually left on the ground, like shed snake skin when he went to bed every night. And that was all he had.

He was planning to make a go of cleaning out the spare room and taking a trip to Ikea to get a bed for Jack but he wasn't really sure when he'd get the time. Until then, it was the sofa for the kid. He would have given Jack the bedroom but the light fixing was broken and he wasn't sure if the five year old was scared of the dark or not. In fact, seeing Jack's reaction to that clown, he was in no hurry to find out either.

It wasn't difficult to fix the sofa up like a bed. He'd managed to forage a spare quilt from the kitchen cupboard and he just borrowed the cushion from his chair to use as a pillow. It looked fairly comfortable to Wolf. Jack emerged from the bathroom with the blue fish hanging despondently from one hand and climbed onto the sofa slowly, dragging his feet. He nestled down without a word.

Fighting back the urge to yawn, Wolf switched off the main light but left a lamp by the window on. His electricity bill was going to be in bits but it was much simpler than testing the waters with Jack when he was absolutely exhausted.

''Night Jack,' he mumbled. 'Sleep… well?' He wasn't sure if that was the right sentiment but it sounded okay.

''Night,' the little lump under the quilt mumbled back.

Wolf shucked out of his clothes and collapsed onto his bed, lying there. Alone in his bare room, it was hard to deny that all he wanted to do was cry. Instead, he growled, mentally berated himself and rolled over to sleep.

When Wolf's alarm clock bleeped obnoxiously in the morning, he could have sworn that less than a minute had passed. He hadn't dreamt at all and he felt twice as shattered getting up as he had going to bed the night before.

He shuffled into the kitchen first, yawned one of those arm flailing yawns, then flipped the kettle on to boil. It was only when he rummaged through the cupboards that he realized he hadn't picked up any instant coffee at the shop. The kettle whistled noisily and he felt guilty; he'd read somewhere that boiling kettles contributed to the demise of the polar bear. How he wasn't quite sure, seeing as polar bears seemed pretty bad ass to him but it was enough to make him want to personally apologize to one of them.

Rather than entertain the idea, he padded into the living room as quietly as he could. It was a grey day outside and when he switched off the lamp the room was a strange half dark tinged with the bright orange glow of the streetlights that his flat fronted out towards.

There was a small scuffling noise and he nearly had a heart attack, his hand reaching to the side of his abdomen, instinctively going for a gun. Jack pottered out of the bathroom and glanced at Wolf briefly with baleful eyes.

The kid had clearly been up for a while; he'd dressed himself in one of the spare sets of clothes from his suitcase. The clothes were much the same as the ones he'd been wearing before except the jeans were lighter and the t-shirt was orange with a peace symbol on it. Wolf's lips twitched slightly at that, the soldier with his kid wearing a peace t-shirt.

Jack had left the duvet and pyjamas folded (in the sort of universal way that all five year olds left everything folded like) on the sofa. Still, Wolf appreciated the effort. It was nice to see that his kid had good manners but not quite so nice to remember that Wolf had had absolutely nothing to do with it.

'Hey Jack. You want breakfast?' Wolf asked. Jack nodded silently. He was holding that blue fish again, dangling from his right hand. Wolf would have thought that the hold looked careless if he hadn't noticed just how tightly the little boy's fingers clutched at the stuffed toy. He didn't remark though; if the kid wanted to carry a fish teddy around with him, who was he to criticize?

He made his way back out to the kitchen and pulled out the brand new box of coco pops he'd bought the day before. Jack accepted a bowl with a sullen mutter of gratitude before taking his breakfast inside, perching on the sofa and tucking in slowly.

Wolf was about to pour himself a bowl when he heard his mobile ringing. After a mad scramble back to his room, he punched the answer button triumphantly.

'Hello?'

'Hello. Lieutenant, its Captain Hastings here. I was just going through the extremely extensive stack of paperwork on my desk when I happened across a green 3214 at the bottom of my pile. Do you know what a green 3214 means soldier?'

Wolf liked Hastings, always had. He'd been on a half dozen deployments with him and Hastings had been his first duty sergeant. It was well known that the man was extremely paternal with younger soldiers who'd come up under his wing and Wolf had always found this to be true.

'No sir,' he replied, quaking. Was it a notice of transfer, moving him to some god forsaken desk detail in the middle of nowhere? Hastings wouldn't allow that to happen, would he?

'It means that one of my troops has an ankle biter who's just been written onto the military and military family health insurance scheme. Why didn't you tell me, you son of a bitch?' Hastings asked, his tone switching almost instantaneously from severe to delighted. Wolf rolled his eyes. He knew that Hastings would tell everyone how the Lieutenant in K-Unit nearly shit himself over some bullshit paperwork.

'Yeah, that'd be Jack.'

'You motherfucker. You do know that's it part of being a father, don't you, bringing in pictures of your baby for your bosses to take time out to coo over. How old is he?'

'Five.'

'And you're only getting around to registering him now?' Hastings chuckled. Wolf's dislike of paperwork was legendary within his troop.

'No, no. I, uh, his mother, uh, she never told me. She died recently and he lives with me now.'

'I… Sorry, Lucas, I… Sorry for your loss. I'm an insensitive prick, I know. Listen, next time you're down at Hereford bring him with you. I'll take him on a tour of the facility, show him the trophy room and tell him all about the history of the organisation. Does he want to follow you into the job?' Hastings inquired cheerfully.

'Well, he's five years old. I wouldn't sign him up just yet.'

Hastings snorted. 'Listen Lieutenant, I can hear in your voice that you're a little worried. Not about the exercise but the kid. And I can tell you that it's not going to be easy. Anyone who says so is a goddamn liar, Santos, understand? But it's not impossible. Parents have been raising children for thousands of years and by the by we manage to get it right. Must count for something, mustn't it?'

'I suppose,' Wolf said.

'Oh, you'll do just fine. How bad can it go? Treat him like a new recruit. He needs instruction and boundaries and you give him them. You are his superior officer, but you're not a tyrant. It's a working relationship, Lieutenant. You remember that.'

'Yes sir.'

'And if you tell anybody that I expressed an interested in your offspring, I'll cut your balls off so you won't have to worry about having another. Alright?'

'Of course sir.'

'Good. Lieutenant, you sound a little run down. You feeling okay?' Hastings asked.

'Yes sir, I'm fine sir.'

'Look, Lieutenant, budget cuts are a bitch, I get that. We're all feeling the pinch and the higher ups are getting their balls busted about saving money. There will probably be forced redundancies, you follow me?'

'Yes sir,' said Wolf.

'You, Lieutenant, are one of my best troops. You need to take a few days leave to sort yourself and Jack out, you do that. It's not like your position is going to be gone before you get back. You got a sitter hired for today?'

'Uh, I was just gonna be bring Jack with me. Thought maybe he could stay in the waiting room,' Wolf explained.

'Bullshit. Listen, I've got reservations about child minders too; my wife's always at me to pay for one but at the end of the day, you're paying them to eat your food, watch your television and keep one eye on the kid. In that order of priority too.'

'Yes sir,' said Wolf. He'd have to remember to espouse Captain Hastings view on Snake later.

'You take three days leave, soldier, including today. That's a fucking order. You get that little boy situated with school and the like, spend some time with him. Then you report to Hereford with him on Thursday at around about two o' clock and I'll sort out the duty rota with you. Alright?'

Wolf was relieved to hear no pity in Hastings' voice. Pity he couldn't handle. Still, he didn't want special treatment either.

'That's alright sir. I'll get Jack sorted out in my own time.'

If there had been a wrong thing to say, that was most definitely it.

'Lieutenant, you're taking three days leave with full pay. You're getting Jack sorted out and you're spending time with him. You're reporting to Hereford with him on Thursday and you're sorting out the duty rota with me. Is that clear?' Hastings voice was frosty.

'Yes sir,' said Wolf, cutting his losses.

'Fantastic. See you then,' Hastings chirped, ending the call. Wolf quashed the urge to punch something. Now the kid was affecting not only his home, but his work too. How was he supposed to make serious rank while trying to look after a five year old?

He swore under his breath while he poured his cereal, slamming the fridge door once he'd gotten the milk. And then he plonked down on his chair and glowered at the bowl, spooning mouthfuls petulantly.

After a few minutes of sulking, he started to think that maybe it was a good thing to have a few days off. He'd have time to get Jack sorted out with a place at school, get the boy a bed. It was only when he thought about it that he realized he had no clue about Jack's education.

'Jack,' he said, clearing his throat gruffly. 'I was wondering. What school did you used to go to?'

Jack was too busy slurping the chocolate milk from the bottom of his bowl to answer. 'Jack, I asked you a question,' said Wolf, hating the way he sounded like such a prick. Jack glanced up and blinked docilely a few times. He looked exhausted.

'It's called St. Michael's,' he mumbled, going back to his milk. Wolf rolled his eyes. St. Michael's? There could be a million of those for all he knew.

'Where was it? Jack, I'm talking to you.'

Jack's eyes flickered back to Wolf's face, his face blank. Wolf wondered absently if the kid was hard of hearing or just being impertinent.

'It's at the end of Nana's road.'

Wonderful. How specific was that? Then Wolf realized that he actually had no idea where Jack had grown up. He hoped it wasn't Scap, for the kid's sake.

'Jack, where did you and M- your mum live. Jack. Jack. Jack, I-'

'Shut up! Just shut up! I don't want to live with you I want my mum!' Jack screeched, flipping his bowl onto the floor with a loud clatter. His lower lip trembled and his eyes glinted with useless rage as he struggled to keep a lid on things.

Wolf felt his own temper ignite rapidly, threatening to spill over. Jack watched him with stubborn, obstinate eyes and Wolf could almost have swung for the boy.

'I-'

What Wolf was about to say was cut off by the loud whine of his apartment's buzzer. Someone hammered impatiently on the door and Wolf growled quietly, crossing to glance out through the peep hole. Eagle and Snake were standing outside, neither looking to be in a particularly good mood.

Wolf shot one look over his shoulder at Jack that was lost on the kid; he was just sitting there, staring at his lap. Then he opened the door and plastered a more welcoming expression on his face.

'Luke, what the fuck? I told you to be outside. We're gonna be late,' Eagle said impatiently. It seemed to take a minute for it to register with him that Wolf wasn't in a hurry at all.

'Hastings' has given me three days paid leave,' replied Wolf steadily, feeling himself flush. He waited for them to call him a suck up.

'Fair play to him,' Eagle said.

'Yeah, he's a good leader,' said Snake.

Wolf cringed, the back of his neck uncomfortably hot. It would've been better if they'd called him a lazy prick or something like that, rather than being of sympathetic idiots.

'Well, we'll ring when we finish up. You two are still coming to lunch in Luton, right?' Eagle asked. Wolf gave a response that was half a shrug and half a nod.

'Great. What're you gonna do for the morning?' Snake asked, shifting from one foot to the other and peering into the flat at Jack.

'I thought I'd sort Jack out with a school but I'm not really sure how,' replied Wolf.

'Oh. You don't wanna rush into stuff like that. Why don't you do something else with him today? My aunt is a school inspector; I'll give her a call and get a list of good schools off her. I've nothing on tomorrow so I can come over and go through them with you in the morning, yeah?' Snake offered.

'Mark, I am capable of picking a school for the kid!' Wolf snapped, unnecessarily sharply. Snake took a step back, visibly stung.

'Whoah, Luke mate, he's only offering to help,' defended Eagle.

'Yeah. I appreciate it. It's just- Fuck it. I'm not having a great morning.' Wolf motioned for them to move back, which they did, and then he stepped out, holding the door nearly shut behind him. 'Jack's been playing up. He just fucked an empty bowl on the ground 'cause I asked him where he used to live.'

'Huh. Did you speak, how should I put this, insensitively?' Snake asked.

'Luke? Insensitive? Mark, you're crazy,' scoffed Eagle loudly.

'Fuck off, Matt. Anyway, just take it easy with him. He's had a rough time. We've gotta run 'cause we're late as is. Talk to you later, yeah?' Snake said.

Wolf nodded and waited until the two of them had disappeared down the stairs before going back into his flat and shutting the door behind him. Jack didn't look up.

Briefly, Wolf considered what he'd do to kill the morning. He had so much stuff he needed to get done but he wasn't sure what to start with. Maybe the bed would be the best idea, then some clothes. They could go shopping and Wolf could buy the kid a present or something, try and make his flat a little more kid-friendly. Actually, first thing he ought to do was empty out the spare room. No, wait. First thing he'd have to sort Jack out.

Snake's advice to take it easy with the kid surfaced in his mind for a minute, but it was easily shrugged off. If he let Jack get away with throwing bowls, he'd be setting himself up for trouble. Surely he'd better off nipping that sort of stuff in the bud. After all, his parents had never stood any nonsense off him and it'd never done him any harm.

Vaguely, he tried to recall the few memories he had of the few parenting shows he'd ever seen. Predictably, that wasn't much to work with. He did think he had a recollection of something called the naughty corner but he wasn't sure.

For a minute, he wondered if that might be effective but in the end he decided that maybe inaction was the best course of action. After all, if he ignored it then Jack might not do it again.

He decided that the best thing to do was go and sort out the spare room. He was a little at a loss over what exactly he was supposed to do with Jack while he was busy. He figured that he never really did anything with Jack anyway so it was probably best to just leave the kid to his own devices.

'Stay there and behave,' he warned, feeling a slight twinge of guilt at the way Jack's tiny shoulders slumped sullenly. Maybe he was too hard on the boy.

'Fuck you.'

Strike that. Too hard on the boy? In that instant, Wolf could've slapped seven shades out of the kid. And then Jack ran a small hand through his unruly hair and it struck Wolf how small the boy's fingers were and then it hit him right between the eyes that that exact movement was what he did with his considerably shorter hair.

It was like an egg buried in his brain that had suddenly hatched, his face caught somewhere between one of his trademark scowls and a moronic grin. That was his habit. Had Jack always done that or had he just picked that up over the past two days?

Then he remembered exactly what Jack had said and he didn't have to wonder where the kid picked **that** up. After all, they'd spent the day before in the pub with his friends. Of course Jack would hear words he wasn't supposed to. Actually, Wolf wondered about that one. He tried to think back on a time when he didn't know the f-word and he couldn't remember when or where he'd learned it.

Suddenly, Wolf wished with his entire body that he had a clue what he was doing.

'Jack, don't use that word,' he admonished gruffly.

Just before he had a chance to congratulate himself, Jack's jaw hardened abruptly. 'Fuck you.'

'Jack, what'd I just say? Don't use that word,' Wolf replied angrily.

'Fuck you.'

'Jack, I- Look at me. Jack, look at me. Jack. Jack. Jack, I swear to… Y'know what? Fine. Say whatever you like. I'm going to go clean up the spare room. Come help if you want, don't if you don't. But if you so much…. Forget it. Just behave yourself,' Wolf managed to bite out, retreating to the spare room. He slammed the door behind him and sat for a few minutes, scowling. He didn't see boxes of junk when he looked around the room; he saw nothing but work, work and more work.

He got started slowly, mainly because he didn't actually have a clue where he was going to dump all the stuff. After a few minutes, he decided that the only thing for it was to push all the junk against one of the walls to free up the most space possible.

It worked surprisingly better than he thought. It was never going to make for the prettiest room in the world but at least it was usable. There was no bulb though, so he figured he'd have to remember to pick one up.

He spent three quarters of an hour sorting out the spare room. By the time he poked his head out the door to check on Jack, the kid had left his seat. For a second he felt panic bubble in the pit of his stomach but he figured that Jack wouldn't have wandered far.

'Jack?' He called. Sure enough, the toilet flushed noisily and Jack came out of the bathroom, avoiding eye contact with Wolf.

'We're going shopping for a bed for you, alright? C'mon, go get your coat,' Wolf said, retrieving his keys from the kitchen table. Jack shrugged silently and tugged at the front of his t-shirt and after a minute Wolf got fed up, grabbing the coat himself. He didn't bother asking Jack to put it on; if the boy got cold he could ask for it.

It wasn't a long drive out to Ikea, the place where Wolf always went for his furniture. Jack said nothing the whole way while Wolf agonized trying to think of something they might talk about. His mind drew a complete and total blank.

Ikea wasn't too busy but that was to be expected considering that it was a Monday morning. Wolf wandered aimlessly, following the arrows on the floor, Jack trailing behind him. Sometimes another customer would look with interest at the cute little boy who looked very alone. But Jack shied away from people who passed him and Wolf glared at anyone he thought looked anything like a child snatcher. They made a slightly unlikely pair.

'Hello sir. Can I help you with anything today?'

The nineteen year old who approached Wolf looked barely old enough to have finished school. Wolf eyed him in the most unfriendly way he knew how. God, they didn't make 'em like they used to.

'No thanks,' he replied stormily, shrugging past the obnoxious employee. He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure he hadn't lost Jack then kept going, short cutting between two shelves to the beds.

With almost homing pigeon accuracy, Wolf found the cheapest bed in the shop in under a minute. It was just about a hundred pounds but Wolf didn't really see much difference between it and the bed that was three times its price on the left.

'What d'you think?' He asked Jack quietly.

Jack shrugged, burying his hands in his pockets.

'Well I think it's great. Nice and big, y'know?'

Another shrug.

'Right.'

Wolf had given the bed the thorough once over before it struck him that it was an adult's bed. Maybe one aimed towards children might be more suitable. Probably more expensive too, he thought to himself.

He decided that there wasn't much of a rush to get a bed. Jack seemed happy enough on the sofa and anyway, he'd have to see how he was fixed for money. If possible, he'd prefer to get the kid a nice bed, not just whatever was cheapest. Hopefully he'd be in a position to do that soon.

They wandered for a little longer until they found their way up to the food court. Wolf wasn't really hungry but he bought both of them a drink. Sparkling apple juice for him, cola for Jack. On an after thought, he bought two slices of chocolate cake too, making sure Jack got the bigger one.

It wasn't hard to find a seat and once they had, Wolf was happy enough to pick at his cake, drink his apple juice and people watch. Jack seemed restless, eating a few forkfuls of cake between fidgets. He appeared to be having trouble focusing; his eyes were glossy and distant, his legs swinging slightly. Every few minutes he'd try to get some cake on his fork and miss, the tines scratching the plate, his face a mask of concentration. The first thing he'd done when they'd sat down was the slightly unusual act of pushing his drink as far away from him as possible.

'Jack, don't you want some cola?' Wolf asked, attempting to sound as nice as possible. Jack glanced at Wolf and cocked his head to one side, like he hadn't heard him. Wolf reached over to lean closer and somehow caught the glass with his elbow, knocking it to the floor.

It shattered loudly, making Wolf and Jack jump. Wolf was about to reassure Jack when he glanced over and saw that the boy was staring wide eyed at the floor, his entire face tight and scared. He crouched and scooped up the soaking glass, leaving it on the table. Jack didn't move.

'Jack? Jack? You alright?' Wolf asked. They were getting more than a few strange looks from the people around them, staff and customers, and Wolf decided abruptly that it was time to leave.

He scraped their leftovers onto one of the plates and stacked them up. Still Jack sat there, the same expression on his face.

'Jack, c'mon,' Wolf said. After a minute he got fed up and reached down, lifting the boy. Jack's entire body was tensed, as stiff as it had been when Wolf had lifted him in the supermarket. It was hard to tell who was more uncomfortable.

Wolf guessed before they got back to the car that Jack had had another accident and sure enough when he buckled the boy's seatbelt in, the crotch of his jeans were darkened and stained. Whether Jack was aware or not, Wolf wasn't sure. Every few minutes the kid would flinch or whimper, and once Wolf thought he heard him give a dry sob but there was no outburst like the clown thing.

Rather than drive home, Wolf parked in the car park at the nearest big shop. He carried Jack inside, disturbed by how the kid seemed so frozen. He raced down a few aisles to the other side of the store and grabbed the first pair of bottoms that looked like they might fit, snatched a packet of clean underwear and practically sprinted to the checkout.

'Twenty two quid?' Wolf asked in horror when he saw the price the girl at the counter had rung up.

'Yes sir. The bottoms were part of our sale,' she explained cheerfully. Wolf was about to ask if he'd just found the most expensive kid's underpants in the world but figured that it didn't really matter, handing over the money in a slight daze.

He tucked the receipt into his pocket and carried Jack back out to the car, his purchases in a paper bag slung around his left wrist. The drive home seemed to take hours longer than the drive to Ikea and Jack went deathly quiet.

As soon as they got back into the flat, Wolf flung off his jacket and deposited Jack to the bathroom. Rather than go through the whole stewing-in-own-dirt scene again, he decided to rinse Jack down with the shower. It was something he didn't think he'd ever try again; apparently Jack would shrivel up and die if he got water on his face.

The new underpants and bottoms fit well enough, the bottoms a little baggy. Wolf figured too much was better than too little though. The kid could grow into them.

Jack took up his familiar position in the corner, the bright blue fish with him again. Wolf slumped in his chair for a few minutes. Then he paced. Then he sat down again. It was only ten o' clock. The others wouldn't be finished until at least midday, maybe longer. Daytime television would only depress him. Eventually, he decided to try and have a conversation with Jack.

'Uh, Jack…. Later on we're going out for lunch,' he began.

'Don't,' whimpered Jack. Wolf bristled, crossing to stand in front of the boy. He towered over the tiny, miserable child by quite a bit, hoping his height wasn't intimidating the kid.

'Don't what?'

'Don't send me away. I'll try to be good, I swear.' Jack's lower lip trembled and he tightened his grip on the fish. Wolf blinked at the words. Where had Jack gotten that idea from?

'I'm not gonna send you away. I… You just… Forget it. Why'd you think I was gonna send you away?' Wolf asked, genuinely perplexed at how the boy had jumped to that conclusion.

Jack didn't answer.

'Anyway, that's not gonna happen. I, uh… it's…. I'm never gonna send you away,' said Wolf uncomfortably.

'Mum said it was me and her for forever.'

'Well…. Why don't you go watch telly for a while?'

'So he said 'my mum said it was me and her forever'.'

'And what'd you say?'

'I asked him if he wanted to watch television.'

Snake shook his head disbelievingly. They were sitting in Wolf's kitchen, sipping two mugs of steaming hot tea. The others had were in the living room; Fox had hurt his leg in the exercise and Eagle was busy trying to engage Jack in a discussion on the merits of crayons.

Wolf picked at the edge of his table absently. Snake had taken one look at the kid and then insisted on them having a little 'chat'.

'You asked him if he wanted to watch telly?' Snake repeated Wolf's words disbelievingly.

'Well, yeah,' Wolf shrugged. 'I figured I'd only upset him if we talked about it.'

'You figured you'd upset him? Luke, you're such a fucking dickhead. You just didn't want to deal with it so you tried distracting him, didn't you?'

Wolf shrugged again, flushing.

'For Christ's sake Luke, he's five years old! He was expressing some serious concerns and you told him to go watch T.V. He opened up to you and you didn't wanna know,' said Snake, a little louder than was socially acceptable. Thankfully, it was below the level of being heard in the living room. Wolf's face turned deep red.

'Mark, as far as I'm concerned, you need to mind your own fucking business,' he spoke quietly. 'You always think there's some ulterior bloody motive to everything. You're worse than a fucking shrink.'

'Yeah, well maybe you need a shrink fuckface,' Snake's whisper was the closest to a snarl that Wolf had ever heard a whisper accomplish.

'And here we go. You think there's something wrong with Jack, don't you? You're so fucking predictable,' scowled Wolf, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible. 'He's a kid, Mark. They all do shit like that some times.'

'Shit like what?'

'Nothing, forget I said-'

'Shit like what Luke?'

'Just…. It's really not-'

'Shit. Like. What?'

'Well he… He keeps wetting himself. At the supermarket, at Ikea; it's only two times and lots of kids do it but it's just he does it weird. Like he doesn't do it 'cause he can't hold it in… It's something else. It's probably one of those phases that people are always banging on about,' Wolf elaborated uncomfortably. Snake's forehead furrowed and he blinked, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the living room. Fox was engrossed in a newspaper and Eagle was loudly expounding on the benefits of markers as opposed to crayons.

'Luke, he's five years old. He's definitely been toilet trained; if I remember Mel rightly, she's not the kind of woman who'd let her kid get away with wetting himself. Does he have nightmares?' Snake asked thoughtfully, picking at a hangnail.

'Uh… I dunno… I don't think so. But it's not like I've been checking him in the night or anything- I'm always wrecked and sleep deeply. Look, it's not really a problem. And it's not that unusual,' said Wolf, trying to avoid letting Snake know how much it worried him.

'It kind of is. Maybe you should take Jack to see a child psych-'

'He's not going to see some fucking shrink!' Wolf snapped loudly, drawing an interested glance over the paper from Fox. Eagle launched himself into a loud diatribe to cover the lag. 'He's not crazy or anything,' Wolf lowered his voice.

'You know as well as I do that that's not all psychiatrists deal with,' said Snake calmly. 'Maybe he needs to talk about some stuff that he doesn't feel comfortable discussing with you.'

'Mark, I'm doing the best I can with what I fucking have. It's not like there's a manual for this sort of shit,' Wolf said.

'That's a given. But you can't just pretend that nothing's going on when he says things like that. I mean, it's only gonna lead to more problems further down the line,' replied Snake.

'Fuck it. I don't give a fuck. Maybe I should send him away, give him to child services or some shit. I mean, they're only gonna wind up taking him off me for being a crap parent anyway,' Wolf said darkly, carefully keeping his voice below the hearing level of the others.

'Don't even think about shirking your responsibilities like that you wanker. You think that's the best for him? Give yourself a chance at least. Now, are we going to lunch at my parents' or not?'

'No. I can't take him out, the state he's in. He won't talk, won't do anything. He just sits there with that fucking fish thing. I don't know what to do,' said Wolf. For the second time in as many days, he felt like crying. That was a most un-Wolf-like feeling to experience. He hadn't cried since he was four years old and even then it'd been for his pet rabbit, not himself.

'Right. I'll call my mam and tell her something's cropped up. I'll reschedule for next week. She was waiting to get the go ahead anyway- I'll tell her it's a matter of national security,' Snake resolved.

'Don't be a twat. You three go ahead, me and Jack'll hang here,' corrected Wolf.

'It's alright. We'll have a pizza night, all of us. Give Jack a bit of time to get used to us all, yeah?'

'No. You go eat at your parents'.'

'It's not happening.'

'Mark-'

'All for one and one for all, Luke. It's the SAS motto, after all,' Eagle chimed in from the living room. Wolf hadn't realized that the others had turned to join the conversation.

'No it's not you dumb fu- uh, fool,' said Fox with a careful glance at Jack. 'It's 'Who Dares Wins.'. It's on the headed paper your offices use.'

'Well, it should be,' Eagle replied.

'Right. Y'know what? We're going to do something constructive today. It is now…' Snake checked his watch, 'half past two. Matt, Ben, you're going to go see a movie and take Jack on the London Eye You are going to eat sweets and chocolate and popcorn and then you're going to waddle home no later than seven o' clock. Any questions?'

'Ooooo! What movie!' Eagle shrieked in a comically feminine way.

'Whatever's showing and suitable. Luke and I are staying here to sort out a school for Jack.'

'Cool. We get the little guy, you get big daddy. So anything we should not let him have?' Fox asked. They all turned towards Wolf expectantly.

'Eh…. Jack, are you allergic to anything?' Wolf enquired gruffly. He kept his eyes on Jack to avoid seeing the accusing look he knew Snake would hurl at him. Then he wondered if maybe he ought to rephrase the question for Jack. After all, the kid was only five.

'I'm lactose intolerant,' replied Jack. He looked very small and very vulnerable, squeezed between Fox and Eagle on the sofa. Wolf felt good, knowing his child was smart enough to know words like allergic and lactose intolerant; it made him feel smug.

'Okay so ice cream is out. No milk shakes either. You two got that?' Snake said sternly.

Eagle bounded to his feet, Fox peeled himself off the sofa and Jack followed their lead with considerably less enthusiasm. He stood by with his blue fish, tugging at the front of his t-shirt agitatedly. His gaze slid to Wolf almost shyly.

'You're not coming?'

'Uh, movies aren't really my speciality. Plus I've got some stuff to do. You'll have a great time,' said Wolf.

'What your dad means, Jack, is that you can go and have fun and when you come back he'll be waiting here for you,' Snake explained patiently. Jack gave a suspicious little half shrug, eyes darting from Snake to Wolf and back again.

'C'mon Jack. We'll get popcorn and stuff like that,' said Eagle in the kind of voice that would inject enthusiasm into a corpse. Jack's lips twitched and for the first time Wolf had ever seen, the kid smiled. Albeit a short, shy smile but a smile none the less.

'Here,' Wolf said, slipping Fox a twenty. He figured that would cover the cinema ticket and any junk food that Eagle insisted on pumping the five year old full of.

'Great, it's sorted then,' Snake declared.

Fox started nonchalantly for the door, promising Wolf quietly that he'd keep an eye on things. Wolf prayed that he did; Eagle wasn't known for his responsibility and, although Wolf trusted Eagle with his life, he didn't trust him to keep Jack out of trouble.

Eagle ushered Jack after Fox cheerily and in a minute of bustle they were gone, the apartment door closing behind them with a definite click. Wolf felt an unnecessary urge to watch them go through the peephole that he happily smothered. They'd be fine, he knew it deep down, but he wasn't sure enough that he felt completely confident.

'Right. I'll ring my aunt Maura. My laptop's in a bag out in the hall, you go get it set up. We can go through the list she gives us with a little help from Google,' said Snake, leaning on one of the kitchen worktops.

Wolf retrieved the laptop and plugged its charger in, silently thanking the cosmos that it didn't look too complicated. Anything other than simple technology got Wolf flustered, angry and liable to punch something.

'Hi aunt Maura, it's me, Mark. I'm good thanks, how're you?'

Wolf rolled his eyes as he navigated around the start up menu and opened the browser. Snake flipped him a one fingered salute over his shoulder.

'Oh that's great. Listen, I know it's a bit short notice but I've got a friend who needs a school for his son. Yeah, a primary school. In Lambeth.'

The browser loaded relatively quickly, impressing Wolf. Snake's laptop was quite ugly but nippy enough when it came to the actual important stuff.

'I see. Yeah. Okay. St. Josephs. Ashwell. Clapmole. Elm Lane. Cloverfield. Crown Street. Morris Milton. Uh huh. Don't go for St. John's. Great. Thanks a lot aunt Maura. Okay, cheers, bye. Bye.'

Snake dragged the only other kitchen chair around to Wolf's side of the table so that he could see the laptop too. Wolf drummed his fingers anxiously on the tabletop while Snake tapped away on the keys.

'Okay. Well, my aunt reckons you're best bet is either Elm Lane or Cloverfield. Elm Lane is all boys, Cloverfield is mixed, they've both got pretty good reputations but she said it might be hard to get a place a month and a half into the school year,' he explained, pulling up a website.

It was all smiling kids playing football, writing in workbooks and eating lunch. The beaming faces made Wolf more than a little uncomfortable. So did the token phrases that seemed to pop up every few sentences like 'cultural diversity', 'achieve their full potential' and 'love of learning'.

'So, d'you want to send him to an all boy's primary?' Snake asked.

'Eh. Not really. Heard those places mess with a kid,' replied Wolf uncertainly. Snake rolled his eyes but clicked a few keys on his laptop and brought up another website.

'Right. Well, Crown Street has its own sports pitches and…' More tapping on the keys and a few clicks. '… Clapmole seems pretty alright but it's a mile away. Oh, this looks alright. Ashwell's got a pool.'

'Mark, I just want a school that's not gonna cost me an arm and a leg, takes Jack for the day and maybe smartens the little punk up a bit.'

'Okay. Mid range school, maybe with a homework club or something? Ah. Cloverfield. My aunt reckons it's a safe bet,' said Snake.

'How far away is it?'

'Half a mile. Near Cloverfield park. It's not too expensive and it's got an after school program. D'you wanna give them a ring?'

'Sure,' Wold said, pulling out his mobile. 'Number?'

'020 7830 7650'

Wolf dialled the number and listened to it ring twice before someone answered.

'Hello Cloverfield Primary School, how can I help you?'

The woman on the other end of the line sounded frazzled, irritable and intimidating.

'Uh, hello. My name is Luke Santos and I, eh, was wondering about enrolling my kid,' he said, trying to sound responsible. Snake sniggered.

'Right. You'll have to make an appointment with Mr. Richards. Tomorrow morning, nine o' clock?'

'Eh…. Sure?'

'I'm going to register your details in the computer preliminarily, alright? It's just the national education mainframe. Only schools, the department of education and the department of child services have access to it so you don't have to worry about the details being exploited.'

'I s'pose so but-'

'Fantastic. See you then.'

She hung up before Wolf got a chance to.

'Well?'

'I've got an appointment tomorrow at nine. Think you can watch Jack for me?' Wolf asked.

''Course I can. Don't trust Matt with him?'

'Actually it's because Matt's got a bird. Figured I'd throw you a bone, letting you take care of my kid,' said Wolf. Snake chuckled.

'Real kind of you fuckface.'

'My pleasure.'

Wolf's phone rang again and he answered, resisting the urge to bash himself in the head with the offensive item until he stopped existing.

'Hullo?'

'Is that Mr. Lucas Anthony Santos?'

'Yeah. Who am I speaking to?'

'Mr. Santos, my name's Tony Hill. You're a very hard man to get hold of.'

Snake mouthed 'who's that?' Wolf shrugged by way of reply, grabbing a slightly dented apple from the fruit bowl by the sink.

'I've been trying to get in touch with you for a few days now but your registered number was a dead end. Can I just verify your contact information? Is that your own phone you're using?'

'Eh, yes. Who are you?' Wolf asked bluntly.

'I'm your caseworker. You know, your social worker. I spent months trying to contact you about your son; you were out of the country or something? You spoke with my assistant, Glenda, a few days ago but she never thought to record your number.'

'Right.'

'Well, I had you flagged and you just popped up in the education database. Can I just get your address please?'

'Sure. Its apartment 2A in St. George's, Cleaver Square, London SE11 4EA. What exactly are you calling me for?'

'It's just to check that you're settling in all right, schedule a visit and generally make the transition as smooth as possible. Now, there are a few things that need taking care of.'

'Such as?' Wolf asked casually, inwardly hoping guiltily that maybe they'd found out that he wasn't fit to take care of the kid.

'There's a huge backlog of payments you need to collect, the insurance companies need to straighten out some things and of course there's the matter of Melanie's home and articles; things like that.'

'What d'you mean, Melanie's house? What's that got to do with me?'

'Mr. Santos, Melanie left her house, all of her money and possessions to Jack in her will. I suppose you missed the reading. Anyway, the property's mortgage is long paid off but there's still insurance to pay on it every month. Seeing as Jack is a minor, the house can't be registered to him until he's of legal inheritance age. So that leaves you to care for it, along with any money bequeathed to your son. You should speak with Melanie's solicitor about this because I'm only really able to give you a dumbed down version of the process. It's a little bit over my head, I'm afraid.'

Wolf felt faint. Not only did he have a child to look after, but also another house to maintain and pay for. He was going to die.

'Hold on a second. I'm supposed to pay her insurance policy every month on a house I'm not living in?'

'No, no, of course not. You'll need to re-negotiate a new policy with the company. Insurance, I'm told, is non-transferable.'

'You're joking.'

'Ah, no. I am not. I'm not really too well versed on the ins and outs of that sort of business really. You should talk to Mr. Hanratty, Melanie's lawyer. What I am well versed in is social services payments. You really do need to pick them up.'

'Payments? For what?'

'Well, for having Jack of course. He's entitled to a lot of things, his mother's pension fund and so on. But that's really not my field. The payments, I can advise you on. You're a single parent of a child under the age of sixteen whose other parent is dead. That means that weekly you're entitled to… one hundred and twenty two pounds, eighty six pence.'

Wolf was about to ask why when he remembered not to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, this guy wanted to give him free money. It'd really help with caring for Jack and getting him to school, and though Wolf did have qualms about claiming benefits he figured if he was entitled then he was entitled.

'Also, seeing as you're going about enrolling Jack in school, I thought you might find having his records useful. I can send them by swift post so you'll have them in the morning, if you want.'

'Sure. Anything else?'

'Quite a few other things actually. Let me ask you, have you ever heard of a 29S yellow form?'

'Uh, no.'

'Well, we've got a lot of ground to cover then.'

'Fan-fucking-tastic.'

* * *

**_Another chapter down, hopefully not too long a wait either. Unfortunately, these chapters are getting longer and longer every weekend but I hope that doesn't bother you. And I did try and keep the language realistic, helped along by the fact that Wolf sees it as an issue around Jack._**

**_Do you remember when you learned the f word?_**

**_-DIBAW_**


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